Page 378 of Phobia
“One day when you meet the man you’ll marry, you’ll realize how complex matters of the heart can be.”
The cork popped on the wine bottle and my eyes flashed to the long, shiny neck. My skin flushed with heat and my core clenched achingly.
Mama caught sight of my flinch and turned to me. “You look different.”
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and averted my gaze, afraid she could see what I had done last night like it was written all over my face. “Oh, I just feel a little under the weather.”
“Your skin is red. Have you been out in the sun too long without a bonnet?”
I blushed harder.
“Use some of the aloe in the yard on your skin. It’ll help your fairness to return.” She set to plating the bread that I had sliced. “We’ll need to find you a husband soon. It’d be a pity to waste all your beauty stuck at home with your parents all day.”
And suddenly, I felt all the color, even the flush, drain from my face and the bottom of my stomach fall out.
Fuck no.
Chapter 6
“How long have you been coming here?”
“It feels like forever.” Our intertwined fingers seemed to meld together as we walked. Bastien’s hands felt cool in the warm night.
“Do you ever come during the day?” I peered up to find his eyes surveying the graves in front of us.
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Me either.” I only ever came to the cemetery at night.
Our steps fell in sync through the overgrown grass brushing our legs. Only half of the moon was visible tonight, making the sky seem dusky.
“Y’er father treatin’ yeh okay today?” Bastien’s thumb smoothed the top of my hand as if he already knew my answer.
Bastien was the only person who knew that Papa was a drunk, and I trusted that the information was safe with him. He didn’t seem like the gossiping type.
My lips pressed into a thin line and a small huff of air left my nostrils. “He came home drunk again, pulled Maman by her hair, and called me a ‘worthlessidiot.’ So, you know...still daddy’s little princess,” I sang sarcastically with the fakest smile I could muster.
Bastien stopped in his tracks and turned, his dark eyes piercing me. “Do yeh believe him?”
His question caught me off guard. “Huh?”
“Do yeh believe that y’er a worthless idiot, like y’er Pa says?”
“Well...I...” I couldn’t formulate a complete thought. No one had ever asked my opinion before, let alone my opinion of myself.
“Because, if yeh do, then yeh really are one.” He cupped my chin. “I don’t know y’er old man, but I do know yeh ain’t stupid. Got it?”
“I...yes,” I stuttered, taken aback by his defense of me.
He released me. “Good girl.”
We kept walking. After a moment, he asked, “Yeh ever think about leavin’ home?”
This time, I was the one who stopped walking and laughed. “And go where?”
“Dunno,” he said and shrugged. “Anywhere bound to be better than y’er home.”
“You really aren’t from around these parts, huh?”
